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8/11/09

Bryan Colangelo has got a lot of praise this off-season. It is well deserved praise as well. Bryan Colangelo is who we thought he was and would should never let him off the hook. I have been a fan of many sports all of my life, if I was going to describe a G.M for the team I cheer for, he would need the following qualities.

Intelligent- Bryan Colangelo is definitely this. Whenever you listen to an interview with the man you can just see that. He has a full grasp of the franchise he is running. He also has a firm grasp on the league they play in. In addition has a clear vision and direction for his squad. Although it may be very clear he is the smartest man in the room he still tries to build consensus with in the organization. He is willing to listen and is always looking for ideas on how to get better. He examines things not just for the moment but for the future. He sees the direction of the sports and instead of following trends he establishes them.

Opportunistic- He has the intelligence and skill to understand when opportunity is knocking on the door. In many of the moves he has made in his time in Toronto he has been successful in answering the door. But he does not just wait for opportunity to come knocking. Sometimes he would go out and create the opportunity himself. He took a complete bust in Hoffa and was able to find the one place in the NBA where he might have some value and dealt him there. Having played at BYU made him a more attractive asset to the folks in Utah. Recently he saw that there was a chance to get Marco Belinelli from Golden State. The player and the coach were not on the same page and the team itself was hurting cash wise. Sometimes it does not always work out. The J.O Trade is a the best example of that.

Educated Risk Taker- Having the ability to be willing to take chances with some logic and reason behind it. Bryan Colangelo has always been willing to take a risk and make hard choices to make a good team into a great team. There are always going to be mistakes along the way. However if you make correctable mistakes it allows you the chance to change course. No G.M has a crystal ball to the best of my knowledge and you can only make choice based on probabilities of success. The worst G.M is the one who does nothing and is fearful to make change. Look up Rob Babcock if you need an example of what I am talking about. If you seek reward that is seldom accomplished without a risk or two along the way.

Drive To Succeed and Never Be Satisfied - It is very easy in life to state you want to be successful. It is even easier when you achieve some success in life to be content with it. However to achieve true greatness in whatever you do it takes the ability to never be satisfied. Satisfaction is the enemy of greatness. Bryan Colangelo will never rest and say that he has done enough. Even in this summer, where he has accomplished so much, he still is always looking at ways to improve. The trade for Marco Belinelli was a shinning example of what I am talking about. I am positive even right now Byran Colangelo has ideas on how he can make this team better. You may disagree with a choice or a move but no one can question that Colangelo is not always hard at work looking to make his team better.

Vision For The Present and The Future - Bryan Colangelo has always been on the cutting edge of where the NBA and basketball in general is heading. The Suns played basketball a very different way from the rest of the league. It was a style of play that was ahead of the curve. Bryan is always trying to keep on eye on the present and one eye on the future. In his time in Toronto he has taken advantage of the appeal of the city to Euro based players. He has always been aware of international players long before it became trendy to do so. Colangelo has been able to see the changes in the game and how it is played. There is always risk in pushing towards the future. However if you follow the trends you have very little chance of being successful. Colangelo has seen the direction the NBA has been heading to a more offensive and skill based game. Sometimes to the detriment of defense. Still he creates exciting teams that more often than not are competitive and fun to watch.

Respected By His Peers - Bryan Colangelo is one of the more respected basketball people in the league. It is an important fact. If people respect you, they are likely not going to think they can take advantage of you. Part of being a G.M is being able to have good working relationships with all of your fellow peers with the other teams in the league. If you have that you are more able to gather information and be able to take advantage of those opportunities that I mentioned earlier. Colangelo is always working the phones and is always on top of what is going on with not just his own franchise but the league as a whole.

Flexibility- You have to always be able to adapt to situations. The NBA is no different from life. It like life is dynamic in nature. That requires someone to be able to make changes in direction and philosophy in order to fit in with the changes that occur. It also involves being able to re-evaluate your own choices with a true honesty and fix mistakes or errors that have been made in a quick and impartial way. One of the hardest thing for people to do in life in general is to admit to mistakes and correct them. There are many example of things in life where people cling to relationships that have become broken. If you are not able to see problems for what they are and react to them you can find your life altered in significant ways and seldom for the good. The Jeremaine O'Neil trade and how Bryan Colangelo acknowledged the error he had made and worked his way out of it, was rare and honestly brilliant. To often G.M's become married to the ideas they have had and refuse to admit they were wrong or miscalculated.

Confidence and Leadership- Bryan Colangelo is truly a confident man. He learned a lot no doubt from his father Jerry and has worked his way up to where he is today. He clearly has wanted to establish his own legacy and in coming to Toronto that was a big step in that. Bryan always in ever interview I have ever heard him do comes off as a confident leader. He is able to let you see enough of his though process to understand it. However he seldom shows you all the cards he has in his hand. He is able to sell a vision better than anyone I have seen. I mentioned about him being willing to build consensus and that is what a good leader does. While some fans were in full panic mode over the potential loss of Chris Bosh, Colangelo has been focused on building a team with or without him. He did not panic and trade his star player for a deal that ultimately has little chance of success. However at the same time he has build a team that should Bosh decide to leave has grown in overall talent. It takes a confident person to handle pressure and not crumble from it. Pressure can also make diamonds and Bryan Colangelo is doing his best to make the Raptors a shining jewel.

This list could go on with other things. But the point is that Colangelo is a G.M that fans should love. He is willing to do the things that fans want. However he is smart enough not to react to quickly as fans tend to do. Life a lot of times can boil down to timing. Understanding when the time is jump at chances and when it is better to sit and wait. Colangelo has been a 2 time executive of the year but has yet to have a championship team. It has never been through lack of effort or intelligence. I am convinced that at some point Colangelo will reach his mountain top. I just hope that it will be here in Toronto. A lot of people had lost faith in Bryan but he truly is always worthy of people having faith in him.

He has a great understanding of finance and the collective bargaining agreement. In a couple years there will be a new CBA and a whole new set of rules to the game of being a G.M. I am confident that Bryan will be one of the first to understand that agreement and figure out ways to take advantage of it. Raptor fans should feel lucky and fortunate to have Bryan Colangelo as the G.M of the basketball team they love. He really gives you everything you could ever ask for in a G.M.

nice article...but i think the true mark of a great GM is one who can help build a champ. phoenix was more splish than splash...hopefully the raps can find a way to gel defensively under triano's first full training camp and ivaroni's guidance to make a bigger splash than phoenix.

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